


Oh, Dear Writer

by YunaBlaze



Category: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Extra Treat, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mental monologue, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 15:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18236909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaBlaze/pseuds/YunaBlaze
Summary: Duncan MacReady was pretty much your typical writer down on his luck, working in a daytime job to support himself and failing terribly at writing a good story that would become a big hit. He was just plain miserable.At least until a certain stranger stepped into the café he worked in...





	Oh, Dear Writer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kameiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kameiko/gifts).



> Here's a silly fic for you Kameiko! Thank you for all those wonderful fics you have written for me!

Oh, Dear Writer

 

Duncan MacReady was many things in life, a great son, a fine soldier and a good husband, but like many people on Earth, these supposed good things of his past are just that. The past. Now he was this scarred and down-on-his-luck writer, with no love by his side at home and working on a job that barely sustained his livelihood. The British author might not be in a desperate time, but he just needed that one chance, that one big inspiration for a best seller story. If only his brain would bloody cooperate with him for once! It was acting like a factory with its workers on strike!

At least his job at the café, _Roost for Books_ , was not always busy, so MacReady had time to actually hide in a corner and write down whatever dabbles he could squeeze out of his drained and tired mind. Anything, no matter how small the words were or how meaningless the sentences were. Maybe when the author looked back at them at later date, they would be a treasure trove for him to type out his story. Still, until the day he could actually write a damn thing that people could actually appreciate and love, he would be doomed to be a waiter slashed barista all day long.

Yes, while it was true that coffee and tea were any writer’s good friends, he was stuck smelling them day in and day out that he was practically suffocating in the aromatic air in the café! The only comfort he had in his workplace were the mountains of books that he was free to peruse when he actually had the time.

Duncan sighed inwardly as he balanced the tray in his hand and put the lovely slices of cake on the designated table, grimacing in his mind at the giggling teenage girls who were whispering to one another about one of the handsome boys at school. Ugh... Please... What was the problem with teenagers and love stories?

Not that the British writer had any qualms about the romance genre, though he found nowadays’ romance novels to be so... superficial and exaggerated, if not plain weird nonsense that gave the overall romance plot a weird taste. What happened to the old meaningful romances? Where every word was poetic and had deeper meanings? Oh, right. Time murdered them. Of course.

 _When will Time murder me?_ MacReady couldn’t help but think morbidly as he placed the tray back on the counter. Sighing, he tries to gather his thoughts once more and let his face go lax a bit. These days at work made him feel like a worn out puppet that was nearing its expiry date. He was practically a robot doing its usual daily responsibilities. At this rate, his soul might very well be certified as perished.

**DING! DING! DING!**

_Oh great... Here we go again..._ MacReady thought in exasperation as he took in a deep breath and forced his lips to stretch into a good welcoming smile as he turned to face the new customers. ‘Welcome to _Roost for Books_!’

Brown eyes bore into blue ones. Duncan could actually feel his heart skipped a beat at the eye contact. Could this be...? NAH! It was probably just a weird side effect from breathing in too many coffee or something, along with his fatigue. Keeping on his fake cheerful smile, he asked, ‘Table for one?’

‘No, it’s takeout, thank you,’ the stranger replied with a small smile.

The British nearly stumbled a bit when he took a step back. Damn... What in the world was wrong with him today? Sure, the man’s voice was ungodly... AHEM! He meant his voice was silky. NO! THAT’S WORSE! AHEM! AHEM! That unattractive and very boring voice certainly did not affect him! He was just too tired from all the work.

‘Very well, what do you want to order, sir?’ Duncan asked politely, trying to keep his brain focused on work and not for more words to describe this handsome devil in front of him. Really, couldn’t his brain work on his stories instead of throwing out poetic description on a total stranger. A sharp angular face that would fit perfectly with a vampire image. Blue soulful eyes that seemed to openly display all the man’s emotions. An overall roguish charm personified. UGH! STOP! HOLD THAT THOUGHT!

‘Uh... Do you guys make spiced orange coffee with foam and cinnamon sprinkled on the top?’ the customer asked, obviously had been saying his order a few times while the Brit’s brain was crashing.

‘Yes!’ Duncan instantly exclaimed, blushing when his shout attracted the eyes of almost everyone in the café. He meekly gestured to one of the empty tables. ‘Please take a seat, I’ll have your order ready in a few.’

He quickly fast-walked back to the kitchen. THAT WAS EMBARRASSING! Ignoring teasing jabs and leers from his co-workers, Duncan just focused on getting the order done and over with. The sooner the handsome stranger left, the sooner he could focus on not losing his job or embarrassing himself further!

‘Here you are, one spiced orange coffee with foam and cinnamon to go,’ Duncan repeated the order as he handed the sealed cup to the man. ‘That would be 3$.’

‘What? No latte art for me to admire?’ the stranger asked with an amused smile as he took his order from MacReady.

STOP FLIRTING WITH ME ALREADY! MacReady yelled in his head as the customer handed him the changes before leaving with that last charming smile directed at him. That was really a horrible last shot at his heart!

The brunet only allowed himself to breathe when door bells rang with the man’s departure and sighed as he dragged himself to the back of the café. He needed his break big time! He pretty much hid from everyone as he goes to his usual corner, sitting down and pulling out his thick notebook to dabble on. He ended up filling up pages of the stranger’s description and even an attempted sketch of the man’s face.

And that... was when Duncan MacReady realized he was doomed. He had achieved the trophy of Falling in Love at First Sight! THAT WAS THE LAST THING HE NEEDED IN HIS HECTIC LIFE!

***

It didn’t help that handsome was slowly becoming a regular at the café either...

The man seemed to have something against him! Every time! EVERY SINGLE TIME! He came in and seemed to actively look for him to take his order! Not to mention the fact that he still stuttered and made a fool out of himself each time he tried to talk to him! This bastard was definitely doing this on purpose!

‘Here you are, a dolce latte with a shot of vanilla and Red Bull,’ MacReady said as he handed the cup to the man.

‘Thank you, MacReady,’ the customer said with the same charming smile (which in his eyes, it was nothing but an eyesore).

Part of him was angry at the fact that he didn’t even know the guy’s name, but he knew his after Duncan got called by his colleagues. Still... He was not sure if he should be flatter or not that handsome here even bothered to remember his surname.

...NAH! It was probably nothing! Just his blasted brain had a good memory!

‘Oh, no need for an extra coffee sleeve,’ his regular said as he handed him back a coffee cup sleeve and promptly left the building before Duncan could yelled at him that he didn’t give him two.

Fuming at the gall of the man, the brunet moved to just throw the damn thing in the trash bin when he noticed something unusual on the usually bland cardboard material. Brown eyes blinked in surprise as he studied the anomaly. It looked like a simple drawing of a flower and a chicken scratch of a sentence, though still readable.

‘Have a pleasant day,’ Duncan deciphered the awful handwriting. He scoffed and muttered about unoriginal idiot and such, though he still slid the sleeve into his pocket.

From this day onward, the stranger would always leave him a note on a cup sleeve under the pretence that he had a double. The note could be just a simple drawing of an animal or a flower, with or without words of modest greetings, well wishes or bad flirting compliments. Duncan treasured them all, keeping them with his notes and dabbles for his stories. Receiving them had become a highlight of the day for him

It took MacReady a few tries before he managed to hand the man a note of his own, mostly because he was busy. Not because he was getting cold feet every time he wanted to hand one to him! He shoved the cup into the black-haired man’s chest after he had paid and promptly ran to the back before he could hear a word from him. NOPE! HE DID NOT NEED TO KNOW HOW THAT WENT!

The writer went into a depressive hysteria at the back of the café, berating himself mentally and physically beating his head for the stupid idea of leaving the guy with his contact information. WHAT WAS HE EVEN THINKING?! THIS WAS STUPID! IDIOTIC! THE GUY HAD NEVER EVEN LEFT A NAME ON THE SLEEVES! THEY COULD BE NOTHING MORE THAN STUPID DOODLES HE HAD DRAWN OR WROTE OUT OF BOREDOM! 

His internal yelling was interrupted by the faint Sharpe ringtone of his phone. Duncan miserably took out his phone, expecting some kind of berating words, stupid spam or whatever that could make him feel worse. Brown eyes blinked in surprise at the words of the text he had just received.

 

**_Are you interested in a date?_ **

**_Coffee guy_ **

 

The brunet dumbly typed yes as a reply.

 

**_Alright! Pick you up at five? :)_ **

 

Another yes.

 

**_See you later then MacReady._ **

**_Oh, and the name is Adam Jensen._ **

 

MacReady stared the texts blankly while he was mentally struggling between crying over his stupidity at saying nothing but yes and yelling gleefully at finally having an interesting date with Jensen.

Duncan MacReady would never expect that this date would bring him the best relationship he could ever have in his entire life nor the idea that he would later have to put this love story of his on paper. It was definitely an amazing romantic comedy story that was based on a true story, though he would never admit that it was true or anything, not with Jensen smirking every time he saw a copy of the book in some bookstores. His lover really needed to learn to take care his ribs better and not antagonize him further to bruise them!


End file.
